The City of My Birth in India Is Becoming a Climate Casualty. It Didn’t Have to Be.

The city is uncared for and neglected and run by rudderless people. Global warming is, indeed, a threat, but not the only threat to the city.

First off -- the study cited by the author studied 51 urban areas in India with populations of over 1 million -- and found only four had an increase in extreme rainfall events during the monsoon season and some declined -- but overall no significant change. Second -- where is the evidence that Calcutta has had more frequent storms, cyclones, river tides and floods? The author uses the term faces -- not experienced -- so I suspect that she is using climate model projections, not actual data. Third -- if you rapidly urbanize and have explosive population growth, problems with flooding are likely to increase --- but not because of climate change. And while the situation of many the author talked is not good, there is no evidence it is due to climate change. And it isn't to Scott Pruitt or Donald Trump.

Once I was talking to a person who was in charge of waste disposal from Kolkata Medical college and many other Govt and private hospitals. I learned that all, yes all, medical waste, that include medicine, injection & saline syringes, infected blood and other human and other biological diseased organs/tissue etc are collected together. Then they are just dumped in the landfill... That's unthinkable in any civilized society and a serious crime. But not in India. Re-usables like syringe, intact needles, saline sets etc are separated- only to be washed in tap water, dried and re-packaged to be sold as new. There are many mafia gangs, in collusion with hospital authority and doctors operate in that field. About 80 percent of syringes, needles, saline sets sold in India are that type. My father and other doctor friends/relatives always suggest to use old fashioned glass syringe after sterilizing it by boiling in water.

Kolkata used to be very different. That possessiveness about the city is somehow lost. The top economic strata of the society is now dominated by Gujarati-Marwari businessmen, who have absolutely no attachment to the city. But they seem to set social standard and became the role model for 'elites' there. Now many Bengalis feel proud by speaking, what we call- CTC (like tea- cutting, twisting, & curling) Bengali in Hindi or Brit-American English accent. A vast majority of working class people in lower end of the society is now from UP and Bihar. They have a very high tendency of corruption, violence & filth- struggle to survive and determination to prosper. They hardly care about Bengal or Kolkata. Most of them do not have any desire to assimilate into Bengali culture, language etc., many even after few generations of living there. That is also affecting common working class and poor Bengalis, who used to fiercely protective about their city. There is not a single well managed landfill to throw all the soild garbage Kolkata produce. It's all dumped in "dhapa" (on the other side of eastern bypass and in those low lying swamp in south kolkata. That water bodies or swamp used to be fisheries and natural water purification system for the city. Almost all dirty and polluted/toxic swear water is discharged directly to the swamp or in Ganga. Few factories which have waste toxic hazard and/or water treatment plant, hardly operate those to save money. No one cares it seems.

Climate change is affecting the whole World and also the overpopulation. There is also another side of Kolkata I must point out as Stu Freeman, Woofer has written. Yes there is no denying of the present state of Kolkata , also the rest of the World. India is an ancient City of centuries and has also have taken a toll. I also grew up in the intellectual City of Kolkata , decades ago. Was one of the safest City I could think of. Classical Musicians from all over India had come to live there. We had open air concert and conference , multiple book fares, art exhibition and what not. Acceptance of all the religions, Churches, Synagogues, Mosques scattered all over the City. In schools, holidays for every religion. This was also the home of Nobel Laureates Rabindranath Tagore, Amartya Sen ( Economics 1998) Pandit Ravi Shankar , Film maker Satyajit Roy.

There seems to be at least 2 issues here. 1. Vast majority of Indians believe that laws for for fools and poor people. Indian history teach that rich and powerful do not follow the rules they make. Most Indians takes pride when they can break any law, even for a moment . It gives them a satisfaction and seemingly social status. So even when there are laws in some cities against deep tube wells, mandatory rain water harvesting and so on, almost everyone breaks it. The first to do so are the rich and powerful ones, starting with the law makers. 2. The perception that if I have money, I have every right to do whatever I can, particularly if it's legal. So If I have money, I can waste food, other resources. I can waste water, plenty of it by using bath tub, swimming pool, green garden with trees/plants that need plenty of water and so on. I lived in an appart building complex there. That building complex had a swimming pool. Hardly anyone swim there, but used mostly as decoration and some relaxation by rich fat men and women. But the water was changed daily, without fail. The huge building complex used to be fully cleaned with purified drinking grade water daily. I talked to the manager and he told that he has to do that as instructed by the promoter and also most residents want it that way. They do not care about severe water crisis in that area, just few blocks away. They think they can do it as they have money.

I’d like to think that massive sea of garbage in the picture could also have something to do with it.

Calcutta and most of India has not adequately invested in infrastructure development. Lack of proper roads, sewage systems, canals, drainage systems (particularly storm drains), waste management, recycling, water / gas / electric utilities, etc is appalling. Without this investment India will never fulfill its potential.

Is there any chance people might read and appreciate the article and the excellent photographs that accompany it? Why are people so eager not to learn, listen, or read? As the seas rise and women are denied access to birth control the twin scourges of a changing, wilding climate and expanding population with increasing addictions to waste and escapist media, our troubles will grow. Share this poem: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ John Donne John Donne (24 January 1572 - 31 March 1631 / London, England) poet John Donne #46 on top 500 poets Poet's Page Poems Quotes Comments Stats E-Books Biography Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Poems by John Donne : 113 / 190 « prev. poem next poem » No Man Is An Island - Poem by John Donne Autoplay next video No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, [Our home] is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine own were: Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee. John Donne

So it's clear that climate change isn't really the problem. Rather it is the fact that humans breed like flies while having the habits of rats that is the real issue.

The city of my birth is as good as place to be from as any. However, where one is born is an accident of birth. And I left the city of my birth long ago and I owe her nothing. And even if I still lived there, I'm sure the city of my birth would be uninterested in my concern.

After reading the article the title needs to change. Instead of "Is Becoming" it should read "Has Become". There is multiple articles per week or even day on what amounts to issues of climate change. Sorry to say but the USA is leaderless when it comes to such an issue. At least from our governmental leaders. Enjoy it all while we can!!

"Climate" doesn't make the city an insufferable sea of plastic and garbage, I am sorry to say.

This situation is the result of far too many humans simply living and breeding as they please and not paying attention to the obvious result of this behavior. I make particular reference to Ms. Sengupta's story of the plight of a homeless mother of four without any mention of that absurdity itself. Until we get a grip on our own misbehavior regarding real life on real Earth we are doomed to a very sorry end indeed!

I lived in a very humid climate In Samoa while serving in the Peace Corps. I was wet all the time and developed infections. A couple of years ago I moved to the San Diego area near the ocean and for a short while found the climate near perfect but this year has been more like Samoa than ever. It just goes on and on. Once again I am wet all the time again. I definitely do not recommend San Diego as a place to live year round. Air conditioning is very expensive and turn it off for a few minutes and the humidity engulf you again immediately. At least in Samoa we had beautiful views and friendly people but here no one talks to us and they consider Lego Land cultural. My landlord just boosted the rent 10% as he did last year. I shouldn't complain but I know it will get worse so at least I want to warn others. The roads are bumper to bumper all the time too so there is no getting out of here. Building on every tiny empty lot. I feel for the fools who buy these dreadfully over priced ugly homes. There are no safe bike paths, no quiet hiking trails. But I assure you everyone will tell you it is perfect and it used to be. Too late now. But the greedy developers want squeeze the last penny out of this place at our expense. I do remember how wonderful it used to be here only a few years ago.

Almost all major Indian cities suffer from over population and degradation of environment and infrastructure.Kolkata has the additional issue of illegal immigrants too.

My heart goes out to these people and the continued use of coal and fossil fuels is causing this. Pope Francis said recently we will be living in a wilderness soon if these fuels continue to be used. The religious groups in America are voting for the GOP and giving them a permission to keep causing this destruction. Once again Pope Francis said recently any harm done to the environment is a harm to humanity. If you are supporting the GOP this means you.

India is a country of great intelligence and talent. It can solve this problem. But it suffers from an historic deficit of civic commitment. Centuries of balkanized politics, a multiplicity of languages, a rigid caste hierarchy and endemic official corruption have all conspired to create a society with weak national affinities. The basic social unit remains the family, essentially a good thing, but not when it operates to exclude everything else. A family compound may be spotlessly maintained but outside its walls filth abounds. No one minds. There is little sense of public responsibility for taking care of common areas or solving wide-ranging general problems. These historic limitations have been undergoing slow change for about a century, but now ecological reality is about to accelerate the pace. One can only hope the damage will not be too great before a corner is turned.

Don't worry, just coach the entire city of 14 M to claim asylum in the US or else the EU, and use climate change as the rationale for asylum. It makes as much sense as most other asylum claims.

This is really too bad, though hardly surprising considering how little we do in our own country to preserve our environment (and we've got lots more dough than India). Kolkata may be the world's most unfairly denigrated city. It's a magnificent metropolis, full of remarkable colonial architecture much of which remains in extraordinarily good condition. Last time I was there I sought out some ancient Hindu temples that are known to virtually no one who doesn't reside within the immediate vicinity. I was also present when two 19th Century synagogues were rededicated (which is pretty much one synagogue per each Jewish resident of the city). And please let's not fret over the city's man-powered rickshaws: without them there would be lots of men earning no money at all. It's seedy, dusty and damp but there's no place quite like it, not even in India.